If your two year old son is playing with dolls and his mum’s makeup, the fascination may not be as innocent as simple childhood games. According to new research from Rotterdam’s Erasmus University, Denmark, young children are at risk from gender tampering chemicals found in household items such as nappies, sunscreen lotion, creams, rubber items, certain food products, paints, electrical equipment and even bed linen. The study focused on two year old children and their daily levels of exposure to such chemicals.

Research results concluded that the chemicals emitted from these household items are almost certainly responsible for the declining sperm count of boys across the developed world. Boys born in the modern day are becoming far less fertile than their fore fathers. Current EU regulations of such chemicals are not preventing the problem. A study of British mothers has indicated that the prevention of child exposure to the chemicals is problematic, due to the majority of damage taking place pre-birth through the umbilical cord. The study revealed that without exception, each test patient had potentially hazardous chemicals harboured in her umbilical cord.

It is not simply an increase in feminine behaviour amongst boys that is the focus of concern. The problem is that an increasing amount of girls are being born that should have been born boys. In fact, the Danish research may contain the answer as to why birth gender numbers have shifted so rapidly in favour of females in recent years. Under normal circumstances, approximately 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. However, the ratio has dramatically changed, particularly in the United States and Japan where some quarter of a million babies who mathematically should have been born male have been born female.
Exposure to PCBs, dioxins, flame retardants and phthalates play a key role in affecting gender in a variety of ways. For example, a previous study at the University of Rochester, New York, determined that male babies born to women previously exposed to phthalates had smaller than average penises.

The Danish government has announced plans to lobby in Europe to have regulations tightened up. The lack of regulation against gender affecting chemicals in Europe is largely down to ex British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who under the pressure of George Bush restricted the inclusion of such chemicals during the creation of legislation. Bush had previously voiced his concerns that US exports might be seriously affected by any further chemical restrictions.

Now that Mr Blair has moved to his new post of Middle East envoy and Mr Bush has made way for Barack Obama, it might well be a good time to address the issue of chemicals that tamper with gender. If this startling research is ignored any longer, gender rates across the world could become so unbalanced that further knock on social effects may start to materialise.

One thought on “More Girls than Boys – No Longer a Man’s World”

Worrying stuff – still, this could be a serious problem if in like ten years there were hardly any men to reproduce with women……oh well, plenty of women means more for the fewer guys there are left in the world!